Installing an OS is far easier than properly cleaning a system of malware. "Properly" doesn't mean "hope the anti-virus does a good job", and hasn't since Dark Avenger.
im well aware on how to clean an infected system WITHOUT having to write Zeros.
Installing an OS is far easier than properly cleaning a system of malware. "Properly" doesn't mean "hope the anti-virus does a good job", and hasn't since Dark Avenger.
Wrong, reinstalling the operating system as a first resort is what inexperienced computer users resort too..
Okay I need to log off before my forehead starts bleeding n.n
Remember, always ask the person giving advice if they are experienced in the field they are advising you in, make sure their experience isn't just limited to maintaining their mom and pops household computers.
Okay I need to log off before my forehead starts bleeding n.n
Remember, always ask the person giving advice if they are experienced in the field they are advising you in, make sure their experience isn't just limited to maintaining their mom and pops household computers.
I can't list my qualifications without giving personal information, so I'll just say this again; I do operating system security and system administration for a Fortune 500 (top 100 of it, actually) global megacorp, and I'd moved past "maintaining mom and dad's computer" into "getting paid to do this" years before TNG was a thing.
Make of that what you will.
Former moderator of these forums. Lifetime sub since before launch. Been here since before public betas. Foundry author of "Franklin Drake Must Die".
Following them is the only true foolproof method of reversing any damage done by a hacker. Wiping and reinstalling ensures that nothing nasty is left behind such as keyloggers and root kits that may or may not be caught by your antivirus or firewall.
It's like taking off and nuking the entire site from orbit... It's the only way to be sure...
Just remember. If someone can obtain your game login and password, they can also get at much more sensitive info. I would not want to take that risk...
Yes, those are valid steps for cleaning a computer that has been TRIBBLE/infected...but the whole issue here is that it was implied that a hacker broke in to the player's computer, somehow loaded it with untraceable Zen on to the account, in order to add a third character slot, that for whatever reason was never utilized.
If this notion sounds completely ludicrous, it's because it is. This has absolutely nothing to do with hackers/viruses. To advise the user to wipe their computer is completely irresponsible.
I can't list my qualifications without giving personal information, so I'll just say this again; I do operating system security and system administration for a Fortune 500 (top 100 of it, actually) global megacorp, and I'd moved past "maintaining mom and dad's computer" into "getting paid to do this" years before TNG was a thing.
Make of that what you will.
What I make of that is that while you may be experienced in knowing what to do to fix computers for a large company you seem to have little experience in dealing with the average home users problems.
Your response is exactly what is expected for a large company and for that situation is commendable, you have to deal with a whole load of problems every day, wiping a computer and starting again is by far the easiest and most foolproof solution in that environment. There's sensitive corporate information to protect and the whole systems security is only as strong as the weakest link. There's no personal files like family photos that have to be backed up first, no having to bother with making sure extraneous programs such as videogames are redownloaded and reinstalled. No setting it back up just how the user liked it.
The proper response in this situation however, is different. Following up on the oddity of the actual problem is how you start that process. Getting the OPs brother on here to give his account of the situation would be a lot better than the second hand information from the OP. Finding out if there's any way that user could have gotten a gold account without realising it, looking up if similar issues have happened before, getting the user to make sure nothing is out of whack with their online finances and so on.
In the end the solution may very well be to wipe it clean and start over, but that only happens after you've gotten a good handle on the whole situation and are sure it's the only solution.
I'm sorry; I should have specified "and have the machine still be useful for the purposes at hand".
It's the go to method for protecting sensitive computers and local networks. Great for a research institution or a government facilitiy, not necessarily the best approach for someone who wants to play a game on the internet however.
It's the go to method for protecting sensitive computers and local networks. Great for a research institution or a government facilitiy, not necessarily the best approach for someone who wants to play a game on the internet however.
most research and government companies use a remote server/NAS for Documents storage and systems that run a preconfigured partition that contains the OS and all Programs, if something goes wrong they simply restore the partition to it's original healthy state, and most of the time the user controls/permissions are set so low on them it's hard to install anything.
As for the Other Guy, I can care less what your qualifications are, they don't mean anything to me, Dealing with a large company vs dealing with home users are 2 difference scenarios.
Im tired of seeing the "been TRIBBLE", He has not been TRIBBLE, give it up already, and having an account hijacked/TRIBBLE is usually the end result of being phished, not having a key logger virus. I keep a Close eye on all 5 systems in my house as well as over a dozen at work, I monitor services, Event Logs, Startup Logs, everything. there is nothing suspicious on his system.
his password hasnt changed, when ever he logs in, his ship / character is where he left it, pending DoFF reports are still unread, messages are unread, nothing is missing from Inventory or the Bank, the 3rd slot is still un - used, and will prolly remain so, just in case it's a glitch that PW decides to fix.
So, earlier you said he had Zen; does he or does he not have Zen for which you can't account?
He started converting Dilitium to Zen today because his Klingon Character has an abundance of it, and he's saving Zen for FSMs. As I've Said above and numerous times already, EVERYTHING IS STILL ACCOUNTED FOR.
Quit trying to draw at straws to try and convince me he was TRIBBLE, it's not happening.
He started converting Dilitium to Zen today because his Klingon Character has an abundance of it, and he's saving Zen for FSMs. As I've Said above and numerous times already, EVERYTHING IS STILL ACCOUNTED FOR.
Quit trying to draw at straws to try and convince me he was TRIBBLE, it's not happening.
Well this is looking more and more like the definition of stubborn...
Anyway, if he wasn't TRIBBLE, how else do you explain the 3rd character slot that you think he didn't buy? Before he converted Dil to Zen?
Was named Trek17.
Been playing STO since Open Beta, and have never regarded anything as worse than 'meh', if only due to personal standards.
But how can you prove it's just a glitch, rather than a hack?
A glitch is one thing. A hack is a much more serious matter. We (syberghost, mostly) have to make ABSOLUTELY sure it's one or the other. And that means we need much more than just your word, which could still be wrong without you knowing it.
We just want to reasonably look at all the alternatives, to make sure of things, not just cling to one opinion (and possibly blind yourself to the truth). That's all I'm saying.
Was named Trek17.
Been playing STO since Open Beta, and have never regarded anything as worse than 'meh', if only due to personal standards.
But how can you prove it's just a glitch, rather than a hack?
A glitch is one thing. A hack is a much more serious matter. We (syberghost, mostly) have to make ABSOLUTELY sure it's one or the other. And that means we need much more than just your word, which could still be wrong without you knowing it.
We just want to reasonably look at all the alternatives, to make sure of things, not just cling to one opinion (and possibly blind yourself to the truth). That's all I'm saying.
Im confused as to why you NEED to ABSOLUTELY make sure of anything. If you dont have advice that applies to this situation then dont give it. Same for Syberghost. This isnt a case of a Hack, this is a case of either STO glitching or the brother not being totally forthcoming.
Either way, its either Cryptic will step in and investigate or nothing happens because the brother is entitled to the extra slot.
But how can you prove it's just a glitch, rather than a hack?
A glitch is one thing. A hack is a much more serious matter. We (syberghost, mostly) have to make ABSOLUTELY sure it's one or the other. And that means we need much more than just your word, which could still be wrong without you knowing it.
We just want to reasonably look at all the alternatives, to make sure of things, not just cling to one opinion (and possibly blind yourself to the truth). That's all I'm saying.
Because he didnt start turning Dili into Zen until After he noticed the 3rd Slot.
I monitor His Email, he received no Emails about activating his Account on Another Machine.
lol maybe he created accaunt when STO is first launched, i created my cryptic acc when STO was begining and played free trial,to rank of lutenent if i am remembering right and then abandend game and started playing again when STO went FTP,i i had 3 caracter slot,maybe because of that,i heard couple of friend (players) that is the reason why somone have 3 caracter slots and other have 1,maybe that helps:D
lol maybe he created accaunt when STO is first launched, i created my cryptic acc when STO was begining and played free trial,to rank of lutenent if i am remembering right and then abandend game and started playing again when STO went FTP,i i had 3 caracter slot,maybe because of that,i heard couple of friend (players) that is the reason why somone have 3 caracter slots and other have 1,maybe that helps:D
We were both part of the Open Beta before the game launched.
Im confused as to why you NEED to ABSOLUTELY make sure of anything. If you dont have advice that applies to this situation then dont give it.
Since he posted it in the forum whose entire purpose is commentary and discussion from the community, he clearly wanted commentary and discussion from the community. If not, it should have been a support ticket, not a post in "Star Trek Online Discussion".
You can't post something in here and then complain that you get Discussion from the Star Trek Online community.
Former moderator of these forums. Lifetime sub since before launch. Been here since before public betas. Foundry author of "Franklin Drake Must Die".
We were both part of the Open Beta before the game launched.
I was also in the beta, bought the game when it launched but did not subscribe.
When I returned about a month ago, I also had 3 slots. (My 2 beta 'head-start' chars and a new slot that I made my current character on)
Not sure if this helps you but I think they just grandfathered us in at some point when the company acquisitions were made and new systems put in place.
Comments
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpfbJLLbczs
im well aware on how to clean an infected system WITHOUT having to write Zeros.
Wrong, reinstalling the operating system as a first resort is what inexperienced computer users resort too..
| Join Date: January 2009 | Computer | Fleet: Broken Wings |
Remember, always ask the person giving advice if they are experienced in the field they are advising you in, make sure their experience isn't just limited to maintaining their mom and pops household computers.
| Join Date: January 2009 | Computer | Fleet: Broken Wings |
I can't list my qualifications without giving personal information, so I'll just say this again; I do operating system security and system administration for a Fortune 500 (top 100 of it, actually) global megacorp, and I'd moved past "maintaining mom and dad's computer" into "getting paid to do this" years before TNG was a thing.
Make of that what you will.
Yes, those are valid steps for cleaning a computer that has been TRIBBLE/infected...but the whole issue here is that it was implied that a hacker broke in to the player's computer, somehow loaded it with untraceable Zen on to the account, in order to add a third character slot, that for whatever reason was never utilized.
If this notion sounds completely ludicrous, it's because it is. This has absolutely nothing to do with hackers/viruses. To advise the user to wipe their computer is completely irresponsible.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpfbJLLbczs
What I make of that is that while you may be experienced in knowing what to do to fix computers for a large company you seem to have little experience in dealing with the average home users problems.
Your response is exactly what is expected for a large company and for that situation is commendable, you have to deal with a whole load of problems every day, wiping a computer and starting again is by far the easiest and most foolproof solution in that environment. There's sensitive corporate information to protect and the whole systems security is only as strong as the weakest link. There's no personal files like family photos that have to be backed up first, no having to bother with making sure extraneous programs such as videogames are redownloaded and reinstalled. No setting it back up just how the user liked it.
The proper response in this situation however, is different. Following up on the oddity of the actual problem is how you start that process. Getting the OPs brother on here to give his account of the situation would be a lot better than the second hand information from the OP. Finding out if there's any way that user could have gotten a gold account without realising it, looking up if similar issues have happened before, getting the user to make sure nothing is out of whack with their online finances and so on.
In the end the solution may very well be to wipe it clean and start over, but that only happens after you've gotten a good handle on the whole situation and are sure it's the only solution.
It's the go to method for protecting sensitive computers and local networks. Great for a research institution or a government facilitiy, not necessarily the best approach for someone who wants to play a game on the internet however.
most research and government companies use a remote server/NAS for Documents storage and systems that run a preconfigured partition that contains the OS and all Programs, if something goes wrong they simply restore the partition to it's original healthy state, and most of the time the user controls/permissions are set so low on them it's hard to install anything.
As for the Other Guy, I can care less what your qualifications are, they don't mean anything to me, Dealing with a large company vs dealing with home users are 2 difference scenarios.
Im tired of seeing the "been TRIBBLE", He has not been TRIBBLE, give it up already, and having an account hijacked/TRIBBLE is usually the end result of being phished, not having a key logger virus. I keep a Close eye on all 5 systems in my house as well as over a dozen at work, I monitor services, Event Logs, Startup Logs, everything. there is nothing suspicious on his system.
his password hasnt changed, when ever he logs in, his ship / character is where he left it, pending DoFF reports are still unread, messages are unread, nothing is missing from Inventory or the Bank, the 3rd slot is still un - used, and will prolly remain so, just in case it's a glitch that PW decides to fix.
He simply has an extra slot some how.
He started converting Dilitium to Zen today because his Klingon Character has an abundance of it, and he's saving Zen for FSMs. As I've Said above and numerous times already, EVERYTHING IS STILL ACCOUNTED FOR.
Quit trying to draw at straws to try and convince me he was TRIBBLE, it's not happening.
Anyway, if he wasn't TRIBBLE, how else do you explain the 3rd character slot that you think he didn't buy? Before he converted Dil to Zen?
Been playing STO since Open Beta, and have never regarded anything as worse than 'meh', if only due to personal standards.
Look, more changed information that directly contradicts earlier information.
I knew that saying the only explanation for the given facts was a hack would result in this missing information beginning to flow. It always works.
As I earlier in the thread, a random glitch. I don't get how it is so hard to believe that a game with SO MANY glitches, might just have one more.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpfbJLLbczs
A glitch is one thing. A hack is a much more serious matter. We (syberghost, mostly) have to make ABSOLUTELY sure it's one or the other. And that means we need much more than just your word, which could still be wrong without you knowing it.
We just want to reasonably look at all the alternatives, to make sure of things, not just cling to one opinion (and possibly blind yourself to the truth). That's all I'm saying.
Been playing STO since Open Beta, and have never regarded anything as worse than 'meh', if only due to personal standards.
Im confused as to why you NEED to ABSOLUTELY make sure of anything. If you dont have advice that applies to this situation then dont give it. Same for Syberghost. This isnt a case of a Hack, this is a case of either STO glitching or the brother not being totally forthcoming.
Either way, its either Cryptic will step in and investigate or nothing happens because the brother is entitled to the extra slot.
Because he didnt start turning Dili into Zen until After he noticed the 3rd Slot.
I monitor His Email, he received no Emails about activating his Account on Another Machine.
Heres some questions that will get to the bottom of this.
When did he notice the new slot?
Was the slot there from the start or did it show up one day out of the blue?
Has he used this slot?
(If he has) Has he commented on anything being out of place? Samples, Dillithium, EC?
Is there a possibility he hasnt been totally honest with you?
We were both part of the Open Beta before the game launched.
Since he posted it in the forum whose entire purpose is commentary and discussion from the community, he clearly wanted commentary and discussion from the community. If not, it should have been a support ticket, not a post in "Star Trek Online Discussion".
You can't post something in here and then complain that you get Discussion from the Star Trek Online community.
I was also in the beta, bought the game when it launched but did not subscribe.
When I returned about a month ago, I also had 3 slots. (My 2 beta 'head-start' chars and a new slot that I made my current character on)
Not sure if this helps you but I think they just grandfathered us in at some point when the company acquisitions were made and new systems put in place.